Botswana: President Calls It A Day

The Nation (Nairobi)

31 March 2008
Posted to the web 31 March 2008

Wene Owino
Gaborone

President Festus Mogae of Botswana hands over power to Ian Khama on Tuesday, joining the small group of African leaders who have left office without seeking to extend their rule.

The smooth transition follows the example set by his predecessor, Sir Ketumile Masire, who stepped down in 1998, even though he had 11 more years to go.
Contrary to what many African leaders would have done, Masire did not contest elections in 1999 and 2004 to complete the newly introduced limit of two five-year terms. He had already been in power for 18 years, and there was nothing preventing him from exploiting the new law, like former Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi and Ugandaʼs Yoweri Museveni did.

However, he not only declined to rule for another two terms, but also heeded calls from within the party and stepped down 18 months before the end of his final term.

Mogae, his hand-picked successor, is similarly giving away 18 months before the next general elections after serving two five-year terms.

In reality, however, Mogae has not served 10 years because, for the first 18 months, he was completing Masireʼs term. But the Batswana and their leaders are faithful to conventions. That is why the matter of a third term for Mogae fizzled out within a week when the local Press tried to make it an issue at a time when a similar debate was raging in Nigeria and South Africa.

During his last days in office, Mogae has been at peace with himself. He has toured the country bidding the people goodbye and has already moved out of State House.

During Mogaeʼs 10-year rule, Botswana maintained its reputation as a politically and economically stable country. This is despite the fact that he was once derided as a reluctant president, a serial goofer, a shrinking president and a political coward. Early in his presidency, he committed a series of political blunders, one of which resulted in the countryʼs first and only state of emergency.

In 1999, an error by the Attorney-Generalʼs office saw Mogae sign the writ for the general elections before the names of over 60,000 registered voters were entered into the votersʼroll. To correct the anomaly, he took the drastic measure of declaring a state of emergency, which allowed him to recall an already dissolved parliament to pass a law to include the voters in the roll.

He then confronted the media to own up to the goof and take personal responsibility although the Attorney-Generalʼs office was responsible for the blunder.

Another slip-up involving Mogae led to the postponement of a national referendum for reform and a subsequent court case of unprecedented proportions. Once again, the blunder originated from then attorney-general, Phandu Skelemani, now Presidential Affairs Minister.
Relevant Links
Southern Africa
Botswana

A commission was set up to look into the matter but after it completed its work, Skelemani went to court and sued the president and himself as the AG. The case arose after Mogae insisted that the state would not pay for the AGʼs legal costs when he appeared before the commission probing the referendum mess.

Skelemani appeared before the commission with a highly-paid South African lawyer and countered that the state must foot the bill because he was being probed as the AG and not in his personal capacity. This set the stage for a major battle, with Mogae hiring a South African advocate to represent him.

He insisted that as the AG, Skelemani would also represent him in the case. But as the nation was preparing for a major battle, the matter was settled out of court in a deal believed to have been very favourable to Skelemani.

(Read more stories on President Mogae at http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/31/africa/AF-POL-Botswana.php)

Answering that "3.00AM Call" from Africa: Who is Best?

Innocent Chia
As Sen. Hilary Clinton rehashes her "3.00Am Call" ad touting her experience and readiness to be commander-in-chief of the U.S military and economy, it is no secret that the ambit of power of the U.S presidency extends far beyond its borders. Being the only super-power in a post cold-war era, the reach of the American Commander-in-chief is global. It includes Africa. All of it. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that Africa and Africans start having a discussion, if they have not already begun, about who of Sens. Clinton, McCain and Obama will pick up that "3.00AM call" from Africa and attend to the problem(s) when they take charge in January 2009.

Back in 1998, Tonni Morrison of the New Yorker euphemistically referred to President Bill Clinton as "The First Black President" at a time when the President was, like stereotypical black men, mired in an extramarital sex scandal with Monica Lewinski. Other aspects of "blackness" included the fact that President Clinton was born into single-parent household; born poor; working-class; saxophone-playing; and a McDonald's-and-junk-food-loving boy from Arkansas. While this context has been lost and the politicization of the label subsequently turned into one of endearment and fondness, there have been open-eyed African-Americans and other observers who have questioned what President Clinton concretely did to improve the plight of African-Americans radically or symbolically? As far as convenience and or political expediency go, it is no news that African-Americans and Africa(ns) generally fall under one and the same category - Black policy. Taking this cue as Africans, whether right or wrong, the question for us becomes that of knowing how this Black policy of the Clinton years affected Africa(ns)? Can it give any clue as to how well Sen. Clinton will do by Africa(ns)? It has to play an important part because Senator Clinton has trumpeted her experience on the hills of Mount Kilimanjaro and asked to be judged on it.

That 3.00am call from Africa came in not once, but quite a few times during the Clinton Presidency. While her White House, First lady embellishments have been established for what they were, there is consensus that she undoubtedly expressed her opinion of issues that she felt strongly about with her husband. While am not privy to what she shared with her husband regarding Africa as a whole, there are two crisis that give me a pretty good idea of what she may have done then, and might do tomorrow if given the chance:

The Rwanda Genocide of 1994. Over 800,000 Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda died under the watch of President Clinton. Those were either seven hundred and ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine unanswered calls by the Clinton Presidency or a colossal failure in judgment and understanding of real crisis. As of today, all what Bill Clinton concedes in his book is that he regrets not having acted on time. Sen. Clinton has been mute on what she did then and what judgment she showed when the people of Rwanda all but got: "sorry, this number cannot be completed as dialed", or "check the number as dialed and redial again..." or "this number has been disconnected and no further information is available".

The 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia (Black Hawk Down). The intervention that Bill Clinton called for turned out not only to be a catastrophic disaster, it may have influenced his non-interference when Rwandans desperately cried for help as blunt machetes axed down their throats. The case of Somalia showed just how much the Clintons could and will stomach violence in Africa. In policy terms, it is described as "cut and run".

If that "3.00am call" has to be answered by Sen. John McCain, there is very little one can say about what he would do or say. Apart from speaking easily about stamping out radical Islamic forces in Africa and promoting democracy in Africa, he is a fog when asked to outline his position on whether or not he would support the distribution of American-taxpayer-subsidized condoms in Africa to fight the transmission of HIV/AIDS. This ignorant posture on a scorch that is reaping some of Africa's best fruits and setting it so many decades back is quite worrisome. It could well be an indication of how much care he has for the continent. But judge me not on that, especially given how much more President George Bush has done for Africa - It is not only the increase in financial aid to Africa or his programs to fight AIDS and promote democracy. One has to acknowledge that his warning of President Kibaki of Kenya, to negotiate with opposition leader Odinga, set the ball in motion for the eventual settlement of the uprisings that claimed thousands of innocent lives.

Finally, if that "3.00am call" has to be answered by Sen. Obama, what would he do or say? This is where the candidacy of Sen. Obama has been challenged the most. In answer to his critics he has talked about his sound judgment when Sens. Clinton and McCain authorized President Bush to go to war against Iraq. But most recently, the question has come up again on his judgment and choice to continue worshiping in the controversial Pastor Wright's South-side Chicago Church. Sen. Clinton has said she would have fled from the Church. But she did not flee from her cheating husband. Still, the question of judgment remains unanswered. What will he do when that call comes in?

Excepting his speech against the war in Iraq and voting against a blanket check to invade Iran, Sen. Barack Obama may have given Africa(ns) a glimpse of what he would do. When the Kenyan uprisings broke out he picked up the phone and called the belligerent parties. He talked to them about the importance of settling the matter and saving human lives. That was action. That phone call, that moment in time spoke to his understanding of the complexities of democracy in Africa. Democratic rule in African societies is convoluted, not the least by the intricacies of the rich African cultures and their inherent opposition to some democratic principles. These conflicts will continue to bedevil the grounds made by democracy if time is not taken to build a democratic culture and institutions to outlive the puppet African leaders.

Innocent Chia
Citizen Journalist
Email: innochia@gmail.com

Renaissance or More Posturing...Ben Muna's reaction to an Ethnic Cleansing Call by the Mfoundi Elite.

By Valentine GANA

Bernard A. Muna’s write-up in response to a call by the Mfoundi Elite to ethnic cleansing in Yaounde, Cameroun can be summed up by this statement of his; “Till date, I have lived in the illusion that Cameroon was a nation”. His lengthy and seemingly passionate write-up tempts the casual observer to see it as a watershed moment resulting from troubling events that have compelled him towards having an epiphany. The statement by the “Mfoundi Elites”, pregnant with aggravated criminal intent, is no doubt a reckless expression by an alleged gang of guilt and ill-intent who hear the hoof-beats of justice on the horizon. Violence is most often the outcome of when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. This resistant object of injustice, indiscriminate loot, oppression and the decay of Cameroun is currently symbolized by the elites of the Centre and South Province. Its roots however trace themselves about 47 years back to 1961, when the Southern Cameroons State was betrayed through a plebiscite that was never implemented, imprisonments, physical eliminations and ultimately an annexation that was laundered through the illegal 1972 referendum.

The reason why Ben Muna’s write-up passes the humor test is that just like Paul Biya, his choice reasoning is limited to addressing only the symptoms of the Camerounian cancer. The dilemma that Cameroun faces is absolutely no BREAKING NEWS to any attentive observer. The transparent reality is that Cameroun’s progress has been held hostage by the fall-outs from the systemic betrayal of the Anglophones (Southern Cameroons) since 1961. To refresh your minds, permit me give you a simple timeline of this historical betrayal and injustice:

1. In 1953 Endeley, S.T. Muna and their Southern Cameroonian Colleagues resigned from the NCNC in the Nigerian Eastern House of Assembly due to a dispute with Dr Azikiwe; a dispute that hinged on Southern Cameroonian autonomy. They then formed the KNC (Kamerun National Congress) whose articulated initial goal was to fight for an Independent Southern Cameroon. When this was not feasible, owing partly to French and English conspiracy, they sought for autonomy by joining “La Republique du Cameroun”. Note……The pro-Cameroon crowd leveraged Southern Cameroonians away from Nigeria towards “La Republique du Cameoun”
2. In 1954 the KNC under, Dr. Endeley would win elections in Southern Cameroon to govern it as a self-governing territory.
3. 1957 -- Cracks develop in the KNC. The majority is leery of a speedy union with La Republique du Cameroun. S.T Muna resigns and joins Foncha’s KNDP which had sponsors from La Republique, and had a more gung-ho determination towards the union. Note: the KNDP stood for a two state Federal Structure in Cameroon.
4. January 1st 1960, La Republique du Cameroun gains its independence from France.
5. 1961 -- The pro-Federal crowd wins the plebiscite towards establishing a Federal Republic of Cameroon, but Jua’s coalition through ELECTORAL VICTORY retains the Premiership of the Southern Cameroonian state within an intended Federal Structure.
6. Between February and October 1st 1961, French forces move into the Southern Cameroons before the Union is consummated or before UN Resolutions including 1608 are implemented. Annexation by Brute force commences.
7. 1965 - Ahidjo is beginning to coerce political parties towards a fusion. The pro-Muna/pro La Republique followers see no reason for caution. There is dis-agreement in the KNDP, as the followers of S.T. Muna who refuse to tow the party line are EXPELLED. Muna resigns in 1965 and forms his CUC (Cameroon Union Congress). His CUC and other parties merge with Ahidjo’s UC, forming the CNC. He throws his total support behind Ahidjo and serves as Minister of Mines, Ports, Transport and Telecommunications. Note: Dr. Endeley’s CPNC also throws in the towel and succumbs to coercion from Ahidjo and merges with the CNC, now turned into CNU.
8. 1968 Ahidjo appoints Muna to replace Jua as Prime Minister of “West Cameroon”. Note; prior to this, the Prime Minister of West Cameroon seated in Buea came about through independent multi-party elections in West Cameroon (Southern Cameroons). Whoever gave Ahidjo the powers to appoint a Prime Minister of West Cameroon is anybody’s guess!!!
9. Between 1968 and 1970 -- Muna oversees the dissolution of the West Cameroon State. State corporations such as the CDC, Powercam, etc are taken over. Ben Muna was already a Government Counsel in Bamenda. As a lawyer, what did he advise his Dad about this?
10. 1970 -- Ahidjo’s mandate runs out. Now a Coerced One-party state, Ahidjo runs as a single candidate, while Muna runs as his Vice. Foncha is pushed aside. After the elections, Muna serves both as the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Cameroon and as The Prime Minister of West Cameroon.
11. 1972 S.T. Muna has already overseen the de-construction of the structures of the West Cameroon State. Anglophone resistance to this betrayal and back-stabbing are either killed, imprisoned, or exiled. In 1973 the system rewards him with “Speaker of Parliament”.
12. 1982 – Ahidjo resigns and Biya (Prime Minister) takes over as President. Note: S.T Muna having been loyal to Ahidjo and the Cameroon State as anyone could have been, was Speaker of Parliament and second in command. Prior to Ahidjo’s resignation, (S.T. Muna) an Anglophone is quietly sidestepped as the constitution is changed allowing the prime Minister (Biya -- A Francophone) to succeed the Presidency instead of the Speaker of Parliament. Note, this constitutional change was initiated during the Baffoussam congress of 1981.
13. 1984 -- Biya changes the name of the Country from “United Republic of Cameroon” to “La Republique du Cameroun”; reverting to its name before the 1961 plebiscite. He drops one of the stars on the country’s flag……..actions which amount to technically seceding from the intended, though unconsummated Union.
14. 1985 -- Bamenda Congress. CNU is renamed to CPDM, Fon Gorgi Dinka circulates tracks including “The New Social Order, Dissolve the Time Bomb, and Open Letter to the Cameroon Etat Major”. Gorji Dinka is locked up, tortured, tried etc, etc
15. 1988 -- S.T. Muna resigns from Parliament in a storm of angst against the machinations of La Republique du Cameroun.
16. 1990 -- The SDF is conceived, registered and launched against the backdrop of gunfire from an occupationist army. The sentiment in Bamenda is definitely of a political party to address Anglophone marginalization and enslavement in La Republique and hopeful emancipation of Francophone Camerounians themselves from a government of tyranny.
17. 1992 -- The SDF headed by John Fru Ndi wins the Presidency of Cameroon, but Biya’s La Republique Supreme Court declares him the winner. The North West leads a civil revolt with some support from the South West Province. The rest of the country (La Republique) stays mostly mute.
18. 1993 -- Southern Cameroon liberation movements are formed including SCNC, and later SCAPO, SCYL, and others, including the landmark All Anglophone Conference meeting in Buea.
19. 1999 into 2000 -- There is a symbolic declaration of Southern Cameroons independence by Justice Ebong over Radio Buea airwaves.
20. 2005 -- Ben Muna is readmitted and reconciled into the SDF after having been expelled a few years back.
21. 2006 -- Ben Muna Creates a faction and proceeds in attempts to Split the SDF. Mezam High Court rules in September against Ben Muna’s faction using the SDF Name, Logo etc. Ben Muna states through every available means that Yaounde is his core constituency, and longs for a lifeline from the Mfoundi High Court. Ref: http://www.postnewsline.com/2006/10/court_stops_mun.html. May 26th 2006 see him violate state statutes to hold a convention of the said “Authentic SDF”. The SDF is weakened. SDF members including retired Colonel Chi Ngafor are arrested and framed up for plans to disrupt his convention. Those arrested are still languishing in jail without trial!!

It is exactly in the above historical context that Ben Muna’s seeming epiphamy is laughable at best and most disingenuous at worst. By material and political yardsticks, Ben Muna and his coterie have been very successful under the fluid rules in La Republique du Cameroun meant to serve only the privileged few. It is the savvy Bill Gates who said “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people from thinking they can’t lose”. One thing that success under unjust circumstances also does is that, it blinds human beings into thinking that those circumstances will continuity into perpetuity.

Cameroun has had a few opportunities to right the wrongs that constitute the rotten core of its foundation. These rare opportunities include the SDF stolen Presidential victory of 1992 and the Constitutional Conference of 1996. Sadly, the abundance of unprincipled and expedient actors such as Joseph Owona, Bello Bouba, Egbe Tabi (of late), Ben Muna have led to a state where the constitution is meaningless and the law of the day becomes what Biya and his clansmen such as the Mfoundi Elite proscribe for the day.

The past always screams with reminders on how we should conduct our today towards a better future. Ahidjo danced away from helping to establish a truly democratic nation and today, his formerly privileged northerners are equally victims of this bunch of underachievers whom his parochial whims and caprices helped usher into power. It was Julius Nyerere who once said “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor”. Ben Muna’s father, a partner in crime to Ahidjo was not just neutral in the face of injustice to the Anglophones and disservice to the country’s democratic foundations. He was a card carrying enabler of the mess Cameroun is in today.

Despite overwhelming evidence that the Union was fraudulent, we haven’t seen Barrister Ben Muna leverage his resources and connections to right this historical wrong. When it serves his expedient aims, he is a full-fledged partner to Cameroun’s foundation of lies. The sharpening knives of Mfoundi today are an ire some reminder that truth, integrity and honor always eventually trump the expedient lust for power and material aggrandizement. His statement also make him the perfect poster boy for all in Cameroon who wrap themselves in self-deceit into thinking that a just and prosperous nation can be built on a fraudulent foundation. The outcome of Ethiopia turned into a slimmed down version, less Eritrea, the USSR turned to multiples of Lituanias, and Yugoslavia turned into Yugo-Failure just to name a few, are all ominous examples that emphasize to Cameroun that SHE has been going the wrong way for half a century.

The painful lessons of the past 50 years and today’s scores of scars act as daily reminders which should caution people from listening to unprincipled characters uttering cheap statements as a means to grab headlines towards selfish ends. Any statement by a seasoned actor on the Camerounian political scene portending to the fact that the illusion of a Camerounian nation is just dawning on them is indeed teary humor for the day. It would have been more sincere for Ben Muna to say “Till date, I have willfully lived in the illusion that Cameroon was a nation”.

The odds that characterize a peaceful transition of power in Cameroon truly vindicate those like Professor Carlson Anyangwe of the SCNC who walked out of the constitutional conference of 1996, designed to legitimize a state that lacks the basic requisites of a nation. Amongst the precious things on earth that are constant, TRUTH stands as a first amongst equals. Amongst the attributes of truth are that it is indivisible, it is neutral to privilege and it definitely cannot be treated like an occasional outfit that is worn when we see fit.

Valentine Gana
Contributor

Barrister Ben Muna Fires back at the "Mfoundi Elite" Genocide Ringleaders

By Barrister Bernard Muna
(Original Text in French translated by Fon Christopher Achobang, Freelance translator in Limbe)

I read the “Statement from Mfoundi Elites” published last week on the national daily, ‘Cameroon Tribune’ with rapt attention.

Till date, I have lived in the illusion that Cameroon was a nation. It is true that our country is made up of many ethnic and tribal groups. I sincerely believed that chiefs and the traditional leaders from these many ethnic and tribal groups, alongside their subjects had already healed the deep wounds of colonization and transferred the authority, which was theirs before the arrival of the colonizers to the central government of an artificial country created by the colonizer.

The different peoples of Cameroon, alongside their traditional leaders had, therefore, decided to be united by a social contract, implicitly to build a nation, which successively moved from the Federal Republic of Cameroon to the United Republic of Cameroon, and presently the Republic of Cameroon.

In fact, République du Cameroun was the appellation for francophone Cameroon at independence. Anglophone Cameroonians welcomed the old name “République du Cameroun”, as such, refusing to recognize Cameroon as unified.

It is this nationalism which spurred people like the late John Ngu Foncha, Solomon Tandeng Muna, my late father, and many other Anglophone Cameroonians to work hard and selflessly, in order that the two Cameroons became truly unified.

On my part, I have always been moved by the challenge of building a strong bilingual nation and it is for this reason that I relocated my law firms from Bamenda to Yaoundé in 1974.

I have always considered Yaoundé as the capital of our great nation. It is here in Yaoundé that people like John Ngu Foncha, Solomon Tandeng Muna, E.T. Egbe, Nzo Ekangaki, Bernard Fonlon and others came together with President Ahmadou Ahidjo and other Cameroonian patriots, from all the regions of the country, to work towards the building of a great nation called Cameroon, whose capital is Yaoundé.

In reading the abhorrent “Statement from Mfoundi Elites” I have the impression that these valiant people who fought and continue to fight for the fatherland had deceived themselves.

Is Yaoundé, therefore, no longer the capital of Cameroon? Are we still a nation? As such, therefore, Yaoundé belongs to natives of Mfoundi or precisely to the “sons and daughters, elites, notables and traditional chiefs of Mfoundi”.

Some of us who have only come to Yaoundé are simply aliens benefiting from the hospitality and goodwill the people of Mfoundi have accorded us. We should be prepared to be kicked out of Yaoundé by those who are the rightful owners of the town when we dare to open our mouths to say things, or when we commit acts they disapprove of. Therefore, we should expect to be driven out of Yaoundé with cutlasses, knives, sticks and even guns and forced back to our respective areas of origin.

I know it is difficult for you and your children to be obliged to trek because of social disturbances, and moreover after you have acquired huge and luxurious means of locomotion. Cameroonians are not asking you how you acquired such means. We also understand that it is annoying to see markets locked up just when you were about to shop for you and your family, especially as you have huge amounts of money in your pockets to spend.

Perhaps you do not know that there are millions of Cameroonians who always trek and many more that cannot go to the market, may be because they have no money at all, or the bit they have is not enough.

Concerning the damage of tarred streets in Yaoundé, I also understand your anger, since you are used to driving your luxurious cars on good roads. But there are millions of Cameroonians who travel on dust, either on foot or in old battered vehicles.

It might be necessary to remind you that roads, for example in Ndian, source of Cameroon’s oil revenue, are impassable for eight months of the year. And these inhabitants live in dust during the dry season and mud during the raining season. Many bridges between Kumba and Mamfe have been abandoned and uncompleted for close to 20 years. Bamenda, headquarters of the North-West Province has few tarred streets and adding to that Mbengwi, headquarters of Momo Division hasn’t even a meter of tar. We swim in dust during the dry season and mud during the rains.

I have not come to Yaounde because I do not have a village of my own. This is same for most Cameroonians living in Yaoundé. When we consider the intellectual and educational level of the signatories of this declaration, we are frightened by the document because the authors are sufficiently knowledgeable and intelligent to weigh the power of the words used.

I am sure most of us are ready to pack bag and baggage and trek back to our villages. As for me, I have taken this warning from the “sons of Mfoundi” seriously and I am actively thinking of returning to Bamenda and re-floating my law firms there, or I might decide to go to Limbe, where the natives are welcoming.

Today, in Limbe, there are many descendants of Mfoundi, and Bassa who escaped from the excesses of French colonization at the time, to establish a new home for themselves there.

They still feel at home there, in a part of the country they consider their fatherland, and they are not threatened under threat of being expelled, and can proudly and honestly say they have no other home. Perhaps, those of us Cameroonians still harbouring the idea of building a nation where all citizens have equal rights wherever they live, should come together to found a new capital for ourselves. In this new capital, everybody will feel at home; nobody will have the right to threaten the neighbour that, “hence we will reply tit for tat” or “from now eye for eye and tooth for tooth”, and nobody will be considered an alien predator expected to leave rapidly and definitively “our land” and tell the neighbour they will never be safe again.

Your statement has vindicated the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC), which like you preach the disintegration of our country. But as a credit to them, they have never used the type of violent words in your declaration. If the crime of the SCNC is preaching the separation of West Cameroon, your crime is worse because you have attempted to separate Mfoundi from the rest of the republic.

On the contrary, your act is of graver impact because you have not only attempted to secede Mfoundi from the rest of Cameroon, but you also want to cleanse Yaoundé of all those who are not of your ethnic group.

Drawing from my 4 years experience as prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, I can guarantee you that it is in the same manner that genocide started in that country.

I thank God because I personally know other respectable sons and elites of Mfoundi, who do not reason like you, the authors of the statement. They don’t believe in an ethnic nation. During these trying moments, they instead believe in a nation with many tribes. I am comforted in the knowledge that such people exist, if not I would have left Yaoundé.
As a matter of caution, I will do well to always keep my things together, in readiness to leave for Bamenda, if elements like you continued on the course of division and conflict.

In the hope that we are living in a republic where everybody has the same rights transcending ethnic origins, I hope steps would be taken in the next days to bring about a peaceful and calm atmosphere.

In this regard, I expect that:

1) The President of the République du Cameroun would sack all the signatories of the “Statement from Mfoudi Elites”.
2) The Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization confines the authors of this statement under administrative detention and that they be transferred to prisons as was the case for militants of the Southern Cameroon National Council;
3) The Minister of Justice orders the State Counsel to arrest the authors of this declaration of war and try them in court for inciting violence and threats under condition;
4) The National Assembly endorses a motion during the March session starting on 13 March, to condemn firmly this dangerous statement, for the sake of national unity. Once these measures are taken, Cameroonians will be reassured of their safety wherever they live, and that the State will seek to rid our country of dangerous ethnic and tribal sentiments.

Cameroonians, likewise I, are waiting, without guns, knives and cutlasses; we are ready to return to our own villages, if State authorities want to encourage division.

Long Live solidarity between ethnic groups and tribes
God Bless Cameroon

By Bernard Muna
Barrister-at-Law of Cameroon Bar Council
Chairman of Alliance of Progressive Forces

Friday March 14 DEMONSTRATION -- AN IMPERATIVE

By Valentine Gana

History has called us towards a rendezvous with fate. Cameroon is in dire straits and has been heading towards this high ridge of anarchy for over a decade. Paul Biya and his corrupt junta, steeped in unchecked thievery, insist through their actions on plunging Cameroon into this looming valley of doom. To avert Cameroon's unholy procession towards a carnage of "All Against ALL", the time to act is NOW!!. The demonstrations in Washington DC, being called by well meaning Cameroonian groups in the USA and around the world, are a Golden opportunity by Cameroonians to bring international pressure as well as galvanize domestic resolve towards averting a catastrophe in Cameroon. The participation by each one of us towards unseating this curse of dictatorship, occultism, oppression, corruption and injustice that has plagued Cameroon for about 50 years is the call of a generation. Our roads are in shambles, incomes trigger the misery index, bribery has been turned into a culture, our will at the ballot box is being repeatedly and arrogantly stolen, our friends are in jail without trial, our brethren are dying at the hands of ruthless oppressors. How much can we take? Every generation MUST, out of relative obscurity, DISCOVER its mission; FULFILL it or betray it. At this critical moment, will you help Cameroon's fists of freedom fulfill this mission?

Eighteen years ago, Liberians, Zairians, Sierra Leoneans, Ivorians, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Senegalese, Botswanans, Tanzanians, Kenyans and Cameroonians looked at Ethiopia and Somalia, engulfed in civil wars and shrug our shoulders saying, "That cannot be us". All of these countries amongst others who shrug their shoulders were living under dictatorships saddled by complacency and weak or absent constitutional systems. It wasn't long before Liberia, Sierra Leone, Zaire (DRC) went into a quagmire of blood letting civil turmoil. Again Ivorians, Nigerians, Ghanaians, Senegalese, Botswanans, Tanzanians, Kenyans and Cameroonians amongst others shrug their shoulders saying, "That cannot be us".

Within the last five years, we've witnessed Ivory Coast and Kenya descend into a killing inferno that none of us would wish unto Cameroon. The Nigerians, Ghanaians, Senegalese, Botswanans, Malians, Namibians, Malawians, Tanzanians amongst others, have made sacrifices over the last ten years to shape democratic structures with constitutions that distribute power between the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislature. Can that be said of Cameroon? Can that sacrifice to avert the looming carnage in Cameroon be said of you? Is the slogan "YES, WE CAN" just a feel good sound bite? While these Democratic African countries are taking steps towards making their constitutions more robust and fail proof, Paul Biya and his clique of high noon thieves insist on looking at Cameroon through the lenses of nepotism, tribalism, and imposed misery even at the cost of anarchy.

History teaches us that the weak will let destiny control them. History teaches us that most would become wise only when they have exhausted all other options. In Ivory Coast, Kenya, Somalia, Chad, Ethiopia, Zaire, Sierra Leone, Liberia etc, that exhaustive lesson came through limbs of children being butchered, brutal rapes and merciless mutilations of diverse sorts, parents forced to rape their own children and vice versa, killings turned into ends in and of themselves, displaced peoples, families eliminated, whole towns and villages burnt to the ground including other atrocities which we would wish not unto our imaginations. Our silence and inaction will no doubt become our complicity in guaranteeing that Cameroon continues towards this end. That is why it is very IMPORTANT for US ALL to make our voices heard. A demonstration has been called on March 14th in Washington D.C. Tell your mothers, sisters, brothers, cousins, relatives and friends in Cameroon that you wish not for the worst upon them by SHOWING UP. If you can't make it, call a friend or relative and nudge them to be there. Take a day off work and let your actions speak loud and clear. In addition, forward the pictures of the recent carnage in Cameroon to your pastors, churches, civic groups and well meaning connections.

March 14th is the Day. Will you contribute towards Cameroon's freedom? Paul Biya, a fraud with blood all over his hands who has been in power for over 25 years, insists on his demonic wish to impoverish a good natured people. What will your response be?

On January 3rd 2008 in Cameroon, I met with Mr. Simon Nkwenti, President of the Cameroon Teachers Trade Union (CATTU). His resolve within the Civil Society to stop this aberration and naked play for oppressive power through a Constitutional Amendment was so strong, so unmistaken, so guided. Demonstrating in the West for this JUST and RIGHTEOUS CAUSE to end this demonic regime will only pack a punch to their actions. They are putting their lives on the line. WILL YOU ASSIST THEM?

May God Bless Our Efforts In Shaping Our Collective Destiny.

Valentine A. Gana
Kansas, USA

The real cause of an Imminent civil war in Cameroon and possible solution: CRUDE OIL.

By Elijah Jemchi
A French journalist investigated the production and exportation of crude oil from Cameroon. He found out that from production to the time when the oil leaves the country, there are only the oil company workers and security people in charge. They declare how many barrels of oil they produce to the government and pay a fee of about $5 per barrel to the Cameroon government. Crude oil sells at $100 a barrel in the world markets. This $5 per barrel makes up 80% of Cameroon GDP and forms the major revenue for all Cameroon annual budgets.

UK minimum hourly rate of pay for the meanest job is $11 per hour. The price of fuel in UK is $2 per litre and the UK govt takes $1.60 per litre in taxes. The oil companies make do with $0.40 per litre. A litre of engine oil is $2 in UK, in Cameroon, it is $3. We know that these oil companies make billions of pounds in profit each year. That comes from their crude oil not from the price of fuel at the pump. The UK government get the most from the price at the pump. Compare that with price of fuel in Cameroon of $1 per litre.

The Cameroon ministers who negotiated a price of 600 frs back to 595 frs, previously 585 frs, were partly right in trying to do the best in order to increas the revenue of the government. They are appointed on strict condition that they do not look at production of crude oil and taxation in that field. That is the exclusive domain of president Paul Biya and one or two of his closest collaborators whom we do not know and can never know about. These are the most powerful men in Cameroon, not any minister or parliamentarian.

There is only one country I know that refines its own oil, Republic of Venezuela. President Chavez does not beg anyone, including the USA. He stroke a deal to supply petrol to London without consulting the UK prime minister, only the mayor. Now unemployed UK residents get half price public transport. The Cameroon Hydro-carbon Company or anyone interested and with the means to effect change in Cameroon should look to the Republic of Venezuela and President Chavez for transfer of OIL REFINERY TECHNOLOGY.

All the oil companies in the world are super states. They contribute so much to their home government and in return are protected as super states. They will not act diplomatically unless it is in their self-interest. Have you ever wondered why George Bush says USA economy is based on oil and they need to diversify? Is there a USA government Oil Company? All the other oil companies are the same. They are supported by their governments to buy out third world oil fields more than 50 years in the future. They do not need to measure or declare how much oil they take. Basically, they buy third world economies.

The interest of western Rich nations is to preserve the status quo. They went to war in Iraq to preserve the status quo. Paul Biya can stay as long as he wishes if that is the only way to preserve the status quo. It is obvious that to increase revenue in Cameroon, the government should put a sea toll gate at SEA, and count all the barrels of crude oil that pass out of Cameroon. THE OIL LEAVES CAMEROON WITHOUT GOING THROUGH ANY SEA PORT. ONLY A NAVY CAN STOP OR CHECK THEIR MOVEMENTS. BUT THEY HAVE FULL PERMISSION FROM THE INCUMBENT TO ACT LIKE THAT.

Overnight the crude oil production from Cameroon will double and the Cameroon GDP will double even at $5 per barrel. No body is hurt because if you are caught cheating and requested to pay your fare share of taxes by the oil company, they can hardly go crying. That will never happen while this Paul biya is in power. They all share the illicit gains form this undeclared crude oil.

That is the only valid reason why anyone should oppose change of Cameroon constitution allowing for lifetime presidents, not only Paul biya but also his successor. Else, we will never know the amount of crude oil that leaves Cameroon. The only effective opposition in Cameroon is the leaders of the trade union who declared a strike as soon as petrol prices were put up from 585 to 600 on the day the Indomitable Lions made great exploit in Ghana and all Cameroonians were too drunk to truly analyse.

Notice how Paul Biya cleverly focuses on the violence on the streets and avoids discussing crude oil. No politician has focused on crude oil production the true justified cause of civil war in Cameroon. No journalist who wants to keep his job can ask Paul biya directly about this crude oil production figures. I do not know what they are using to twist the minds of the people in positions of relative power who support the incumbent year in year out without resolving the crude oil issue.

Remember that what contributes 80% of Cameroon GDP is the real direct issue here not an article of the constitution, though that is relevant in the long run. The world will end because of a fuel issue. A civil war will be fought in Cameroon because of the fuel issue. Everyone should have an opinion on the Cameroon fuel issue. Until these real issues of crude oil are clearly argued by any party will I support that party, even if that party is Paul Biya's.

For now nobody should go out to the streets and be killed for nothing. The only reason I will go out on the streets and prepare to be killed is if I am fighting to know about the fuel that my country is producing and I am not benefiting fully from the proceeds.

Now, the ministers rightly claim that Cameroon oil is expensive because it is imported. Why is it imported? Because our oil is too heavy and cannot be refined in Cameroon. Only a senile mind will accept this argument. How come it is refined out of Cameroon? The only solution is to double the charge on crude oil that leaves Cameroon and half the charge on crude oil that is refined in Cameroon. This process should be repeated year in year out until the oil companies decide that it is more profitable to refine the crude oil in Cameroon before exporting than the other way round. This gives more opportunities for the government to measure the true quantities of production in Cameroon.

About 95% of the billions swindled by those in power is through this process of exporting unmeasured crude oil from Cameroon and importing higher priced refined oil into the country. I can claim to you that the price of fuel in Cameroon should be 200 frs or less like in Nigeria if this process of exporting unmeasured crude oil and importing refined oil is checked. Note that the by-products of crude oil refining is tar for road construction. Is this not the one singular reason why we are poor while blessed with resources like oil and other resources.
Any well-meaning citizen of Cameroon should pull their resources to resolve this issue for the benefit of all Cameroonians. Paul Biya has bought at least until 2011 to stay in power. Now is the time to plan to take over from the senile minds effectively after 2011.

Elijah JEMCHI

On the Brink of Ethnic Cleansing in Cameroon...

By Innocent Chia
Even as the Sorcerer-In-Chief of La Republique du Cameroun, Paul Biya is seeking atonement from his fractured and bleeding nation for showcasing his unstated inability to be a leader in crisis, such as the recent conflagrations that besieged the country for a week beginning February 24, "elite" of the Mfoundi Division in Yaounde are thirsting for the blood of Biya non-conformists residing in Yaounde. In a statement issued February 29th and published in the official gazette, Cameroon Tribune of March 3rd, the over 30 signatories to the ethnic-cleansing-type piece are calling on "...forces of destruction from wherever, to immediately leave our land because it is no longer secure for them".

Something else that the statement does not shy away from is its admission that for once Yaounde came to a screeching halt as a result of the strike action. Thus, it states that "Neither we, nor our children, will again be compelled to trek, after sacrificing so much to acquire the means of movement in relative comfort". If nothing, this speaks to the core of what is crippling Cameroun and hampering it from changing from within: it is all about the personal comforts of a few while the masses can rot in hell, after dying from the filth of the reeking garbage on the street corners.

The Yaounde person is notoriously famous for his chop-broke-pot attitude. This is highlighted in the statement undergirding the fact that the route to any revolution involving the Yaounde man has to go through cutting of any food supplies. Again, the statement says "We will not accept to be hungry or thirsty, as our markets are overflowing with foodstuff and our sisters have bountiful harvests from their labour, but lack the means to transport them or for fear of looters."

Whether or not there is any correlation between this statement and police and army warrant-less break-ins, brutality and detentions in overcrowded and sub-human cells across the nation is anyone's guess. It is also any body's guess whether it is the dire situation that has urged Biya to have a rare meeting with his Rosicrucian cabinet. It is difficult to clap for a 20 percent salary increase given the 1992 slash of 75% and a further devaluation of the Franc by 50%. It represents nothing but a poor attempt at covering up for the bottled-up frustrations of the people. The Sorcerer-in-Chief is yet to tell people how he unilaterally decided to cut back the prices of gas and kerosene on the heels of the strike. It either mirrors how his lack of accountability has plunged the country chin-deep into economic and political dungeons or; it says that he is just a toy in the hands of some other powers that call the shots for Cameroun.

Please read the translated version of the speech, courtesy of The Post newspaper on www.dibussi.com

Innocent Chia
Citizen Jounalist
Email: innochia@gmail.com

STATEMENT ON THE MOST RECENT POGROM BY THE BIYA REGIME

By Carlson Anyangwe

Fellow-citizens of the Southern Cameroons,

In the last week of February, the people of Cameroun Republic gave an example of rebellion. That popular revolt was triggered by one man's stubborn and reckless determination to crown himself life president of that country. It was also triggered by the cruel economic hardship and grinding poverty cynically imposed on the population by that man's hideous misgovernment and ghastly mismanagement. That revolt spilled over into our Homeland, the Southern Cameroons, which is for the time being still under the colonial occupation of Cameroun Republic.

The Yaoundé colonial regime seized upon that spill-over revolt to once more order its military and police forces to carry out yet another round of organized extensive massacres of our people. These barbarities, which the ruler of Cameroun Republic and his brutal regime find very congenial, partake of that country's national policy of continuing ferocious repression in the Southern Cameroons. That policy of repression is carried out in the hopeless hope of striking terror in us. The terror is meant to deflect us from the sacred task of breaking the chains of colonialism with which we
are fettered and rightfully asserting our everlasting freedom as a sovereign
independent nation.

But we are proud we have a gallant and avant-garde youth with an iron-will determination to soldier on with us until we get to the Promised Land. Our youths, girls and boys, students and non-students, employed and unemployed are the spear of our nation. They have never hesitated to attend to the call of Destiny and History. They have dedicated themselves to bringing forth a new nation in Africa dedicated to freedom, the pursuit of happiness, human rights, democracy, good management and the rule of law.
We salute them even as we mourn those murdered in cold blood by the colonizer. We condole with the relatives and friends of all those visited by the angel of death from Cameroun Republic. Those who have been murdered by the colonizer gave their lives for the Southern Cameroons nation to be born. It shall be!
We must therefore dedicate ourselves to the unfinished work that they have so far nobly advanced. Let the tyrant, with so much blood on his hands fear! He has to face this alternative: either the people of the Southern Cameroons are to be exterminated or the people of the Southern Cameroons are to be free from colonial bondage!

Fellow-citizens,

Our Homeland was once a peaceful, free, democratic, prosperous and fully self-governing country. It was a country under the rule of law and effective
human rights protection. It was a beacon of hope and freedom in Africa, and, in fact, a home to thousands of refugees fleeing from French Cameroun. Bloodshed, repression, political prisoners, political assassinations, extrajudicial killings, torture, police maltreatment and harassment, arbitrary arrest and imprisonment were all unknown in our Homeland.
But since coming under the colonial occupation of Cameroun Republic we have known nothing but death, mayhem, suffering, humiliation and sorrow. Our land has experienced nothing but desolation and spoliation. Complete darkness has descended on our land and on our people. There is hopelessness everywhere.

The colonizer's thirst for our blood seems unquenchable. Day in day out the colonizer slaughters our people. Day in day out we bury our dead. Day in day out we mourn our dead. Day in day out we grief over our relatives and friends maimed, tortured and arbitrarily imprisoned by the colonizer.
Even those who have persisted in hoping against hope that they can patch up with the colonial occupation of our Homeland must now see that there is no future whatsoever under colonial rule. It is not by error that mankind has classed occupation and colonization as crimes against humanity, never to be accepted.

Fellow-citizens,

How long shall the people of Southern Cameroons grief and groan under the burden of foreign occupation? How long shall we carry this cross placed on our heads from across the Mungo by the Yaoundé colonial regime? How long shall we tolerate this colonization from hell as if we can do nothing about it?

Surely it cannot be our destined end and lot on earth to suffer and toil forever under the yoke of colonial occupation by the neighbouring country of Cameroun Republic. The time has come to shirk off the spirit of self-resignation and make a turning point in our history. We once did it before, and we shall do it again! 'It was by daring and by doing that the Roman state grew and not by the timid policies that cowards call caution.'

The time of orphanage for our people is over! The time when the people of Southern Cameroons were like a flock without a shepherd is over! We have reached a turning point in the quest for the restoration of our homeland. The Restoration Government and all of us are condemned by Fate to set our land and ourselves free and to restore the peace, freedom, prosperity and the life of light and hope that existed in our land, before it was covetously occupied by a predatory Cameroun Republic!

The Restoration Government calls on every woman, man, youth, and child of the Southern Cameroons, as a first and bold step towards our liberation, to, as from now withdraw from all participation in the political life of Cameroun Republic. We have no business with the affairs of that country, except that aspect of its affairs that consists in trying to keep us in bondage, in regard to which it is our sacred duty to ensure that its colonial occupation of our land comes to grief.

We call on traders, taxi drivers etc in all our towns and all our professionals to form and manage their own separate associations for the defence of their interests.

We request that those of our men and women called to holy orders should, in their weekly prayers of intercession, never tire of asking God to bring the Southern Cameroons out of the Cameroun Republic house of bondage even as He delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. For Jesus gave the assurance that 'ask, and it shall be given you.'

Our men and women in uniform serving in Cameroun Republic have no business getting involved in the restless tribal intrigues among the politicians and military/police of that country. They would do well to avoid getting involved in the various crimes against humanity in which the civil and military leadership of that country would soon be indicted for. The task of today for our men and women in uniform is to factor their savvy into our national liberation struggle and thereby contribute towards our
collective freedom as a people.

From now on we, the people of Southern Cameroons, have only one dream, one focus and one mission: the restoration of our Statehood. That is the only legitimate cause for which we must all focus all our energy and wherewithal. With this in mind we ask all our people to hold themselves ready to execute the commands of the Restoration Government. The moment of revolt for our cause shall come. For it is clear even to the cursory observer that this recent dance of death and mayhem by Cameroun Republic is a curious mixture of unconsciousness and deliberateness, of blindness and awareness, in which the doomed leadership of that country is moving, like the last days of the Nazi leadership, towards inexorable disaster.

The Restoration Government is at work. The outward symbols of the independent state of the Southern Cameroons (flag, anthem, emblem, motto etc) have already been formally publicized. There would follow in the weeks ahead the proposed draft national constitutional which will be submitted to the people for extensive debate and eventual adoption.
There has been set in motion a process by which we can all participate in the choice of our country's name. At the end of the process the name selected for the country
would be formally announced. Furthermore, there are a number of policy frameworks that are in gestation. These will be put out one after the other as soon as they are ready. The major one, an economic framework, is near completion. As soon as it is ready it shall be made available to the people to see and gauge the vision we have for independent Southern Cameroons.

We have been informed by a number of stakeholders of certain initiatives by them that are afoot. There is unshakable determination out there to ensure that the civil and military officials of the Biya royal gangsterdom who are most criminally responsible for crimes against humanity are made to answer for their crimes internationally. We shall actively support that initiative by providing the documentary and real evidence that we have gathered over the years relating to those crimes. We invite our people to supply us with more names and evidence. We are determined to put an end to the institutionalized culture in Cameroun Republic of impunity for crimes under international law. Our support for this initiative does not of course mean we shall remove the names of the individuals concerned from the 'List of Most Wanted Persons for Crimes against Humanity' that we have compiled and continue to update.

We are also informed that at the moment a list of some of the persons involved is being put together for the purpose of initiating an international campaign for asset freeze and travel bans. We have some names ourselves and would support this initiative as well.

Finally, a Cameroun Republic human rights organization based in Douala, known as 'Maison des Droits de l'Homme', and a Cameroun Republic political organization in exile, Known as 'Conseil National pour la Résistance', are both calling for an international commission of inquiry into the latest pogrom carried out by Biya and his military and police forces. We support that call and would work with those organizations to ensure that such a commission is instituted.

The liberation of the Southern Cameroons is not a matter of if, but when. Right now, the captive citizen of the Southern Cameroons is up on his feet resolved to be a slave no more. He is resolved not to commit the historical contradiction of submitting to the very colonialism which has wrought age-long suffering and ruin in the Southern Cameroons, the very colonialism to be fought and which makes the sovereign statehood of the Southern Cameroons a categorical imperative.

God made the Southern Cameroons our own land. He tells us, 'I have given you the land to possess it; stop begging for what you are entitled to.'That land shall be our own space of existence on Earth!

The Southern Cameroons shall be free, come what may!

C Anyangwe

‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere’

By Hinsley Njila
Whenever anyone points out things that need to be corrected in Cameroon, it’s become Cameroonian and fashionable even for people who clearly have not benefited from the corrupt system that Paul Biya has championed to criticize them for doing so. You can’t be surprised where this type of attitude comes from especially after reading the president’s reaction to the recent strikes all over the country, and to the pain and suffering of the Cameroonian people. For these people so critical of anyone who dares to point out the truth about our country, I ask you a few questions:

- Are you proud of your country when your President gets on television and insults the youth for seeking a better society with less police brutality, better schools, better teachers, employment, better healthcare, justice for all etc?

- Are you proud of Cameroon when Transparency International conducts research, which showed that 75% of all Cameroonians bribed a public official for service in 2007?

- Or maybe you are proud of Cameroon when international media (CNN, BBC, and YouTube etc) are showing young defenseless Cameroonians being killed by an uneducated, overly brutal and senseless police?

- Hmmm…Could it be that trying to qualify as one of the world’s poorest countries for debt relief purposes is something that any Cameroonian should be proud of?

- How about Cameroon being one of the most corrupt countries in the world for the last 10 years on average?

- The World Bank has also asserted that Cameroon’s business climate ranks among the least welcoming in the WORLD. In fact, the US Ambassador to Cameroon rightfully pointed out to Cameroonians last year that while it takes 5 minutes to register a business in Singapore, that same business being registered in Cameroon will take 444 days and millions in bribes if at all.

- Maybe the fact that young smart, vibrant, energetic, hardworking, able bodied Cameroonians would rather die in the North African desert trying to get to Europe for a better life, even if it means cleaning toilets and living in unwelcoming environments, than perishing in the joblessness of Cameroon is something you’re proud of.

- Also, maybe the fact that your child / brother / sister / relative / neighbor / friend... etc was denied entry into University because a less qualified person took the spot, or that your kid in college is using the same books you used when you were in the same grade and not catching up with changing knowledge makes you proud.

- Or maybe the fact that ALL private radio and television stations can be closed in one day for correctly reporting and showing images of the government mercilessly killing innocent youths makes you proud.

Now, I can see you arguing against any of these points if you’re a member of Biya’s immediate family who, I can assume, have benefited from his incompetence and disregard for human suffering over the years. Everyone should be quite concerned for the sake of justice. Like Dr. King said during the civil rights struggles, ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ Like you, I’m embarrassed for my country, but let’s all have a healthy debate so HOPE can finally in our lifetime be something that ALL Cameroonians, young and old, get to live and dream about.

Hinsley Njila
Contributor

Cameroon’s Education system is dangerous for Cameroonians

By Hinsley Njila
Of the millions of things wrong with a country like Cameroon, its education system and the monkeys in charge of it in my book have been the second most dangerous on that list since the country’s independence. They are second in magnitude, of holding the society back and condemning millions to a life of hopelessness and eternal poverty as they die a slow and painful death, only to the leadership of the country. Please read on ONLY if you can handle the truth.

Fact: If you were convicted for committing violent murder in Chicago (USA) and went to prison for life, you’d be exposed to an astonishing wealth of knowledge in terms of library and access to information that Cameroon with six state Universities for 17 million people simply has failed to provide its students; and that’s just the prison system in Chicago being compared to a country.

Fact: North Korea, South Korea and Cameroon all gained independence roughly around the same time. Because South Korea built its Human Capital through education, it is now light years ahead of Cameroon and North Korea in terms of development and other economic indicators.

Every developed country in this world, or one aspiring to be, has to have a good education system that drives development by building HUMAN CAPITAL. A good education system works hand-in-hand with business to provide labor that is best prepared to handle growth and economic changes. Because the relationship between education and human capital is so important and has been well researched, I’ll advice all those interested to read ‘Human Capital: A theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education’ by Gary Becker, and other literature by Robert Barro, Milton Freeman and others.

On the front page of USA TODAY newspaper for Feb 29-March 2, 2008 there is statistics listing the breakdown of foreign students in the United States by continent. While slightly more than one out of every two foreign students you see in American Universities is Asian, far less than one of every 11 or so is African….This is absolutely mind numbing! Why should this matter to you, you ask? Everything I’d say.

It is unquestionable that there is a direct correlation between education and development, law, freedom, human rights, reduced mortality, reduced incidents of disease and so on. China, in its five year development plan (available online) spends a great deal of time emphasizing the fact that not only will it make every effort toward building globally recognized, educationally renowned institutions and faculty within 10 years, but would also support its students by helping the brightest attend some of the best Universities in the most developed parts of the world. Its leaders recognize that unless you have this type of leadership, any talk of sustainable development is insanity at best. Of the less than 1 in 11 students from Africa studying in America, Cameroon might just be the least represented of all African countries.

In Cameroon you have Universities and professors that are actively standing in the way of students gaining the knowledge and exposure to make something out of such a failed society. Cameroon Universities have a grading system so bad that it should be criminal. A system with NO accountability designed to ensure the brightest Cameroonians are regarded as mediocre when compared to people from other parts of the world. Rarely will you ever meet a Cameroonian whose honest grades and educational experience in a Cameroon University were instrumental in getting them admitted in a top University anywhere in the world. The system is unfair, overly punitive, inadequate, incompetent, and criminal. How do I know this? Well, many people who couldn’t muster the bribes for grades in Cameroon do quite well at many GOOD Universities around the globe. Those that did pay the bribes and or slept with teachers for grades as well as unfairly get available scholarships, often perform quite poorly when trusted into more honest systems.

We should all be critically concerned about this unfairness because we discourage and potentially lose talent, as well as all but guarantee that Cameroon remains a state that well into the future will still be referenced by the likes of transparency international and World bank as an example of failure, corruption and extreme poverty, that is if we don't get extinct from our very own stupidity and lack of change. Case in point; a good Education system would have produced professionals that would constantly look at inflation and make adjustments to commodity prices like food and fuel, trade agreements and others that protect economic activity and reduce poverty. Obviously, Cameroon’s education system is dangerously inadequate and thus incapable to offer opinions on such critical issues; one reason for the recent bloodshed, and lack of respect for the law by leadership. That's also why a president will sit abroad and unilaterally change the price of commodities because of a strike, bypassing the so-called intellectuals without understanding the economic implications.

So what needs to happen then? Well at this point I’m not even sure leadership (government and academic) understand the gravity and urgency of the situation. If they claim ( and they do) that they’re admitting the best students in their Universities, no one should then be failing without the institutions, Professors and other leadership being held accountable, and Cameroonian students should be given the tools to compete with anyone from around the world. Teachers SHOULD stop sleeping with students for grades; Universities need better libraries with modern books; and smart students who wish to study abroad should be supported throughout the process, not just students who are related to people in power. Most importantly, the education system in Cameroon needs to be completely overhauled almost IMMEDIATELY.

There are just too many unqualified professors not armed with what it takes to prepare students to tackle Cameroon’s problems. This is so important that if somehow I became president of Cameroon, I’ll make this happen in my first 50 days in office to save lives and build dreams among millions of young people. If you had the stomach to have gotten this far reading my peace, please tell me what you think by reacting to this post. Please make sure you understand the issues addressed before reacting, and of course I'm open to FACTUAL counter arguments.

Hinsley Njila
Contributor
Email: hinsley@realfocus.org